Over 110K people in Cagayan affected by Paeng, vice gov says

A total of 110,000 individuals or 30,000 families in Cagayan have been affected by the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, a local government official said Tuesday.

In a television interview, Cagayan Vice Governor Boy Vargas said many of their residents are still staying in evacuation centers, while some find temporary shelters in barangay halls, and even churches.

“Dito sa probinsya ng Cagayan, talagang matagal bago humupa ang tubig. Baka abutin pa po ‘yan, bago sila makarating sa kanilang mga bahay, would take siguro around two to three days or even more. Depende kung mag-release ulit ang Magat, mas matatagalan. It could cause almost a week,” he said in GMA News’ Unang Balita interview.

(Here in Cagayan province, it really takes a while for the floods to subside. It may take around two to three days or even more before people could go back to their homes. It depends. If Magat Dam releases water again, it will take longer, maybe almost a week.)

Vargas said 23 out of the 29 municipalities and one city in the province suffered damage due to Paeng.

“Mataas pa rin ‘yung tubig as of now…‘Yung Buntun Bridge na critical area, ito ‘yung pagdaan namin papunta ng Manila by Roxas, Isabela, ay nasa 12.1 meters na po siya,” he said.

(The water is still high as of now... The water in Buntun Bridge, where we pass to Manila by Roxas, Isabela, is now critical at 12.1 meters.)

“Nadadaanan po siya pero pagka tuloy-tuloy ang ulan, hindi na siya pwedeng daanan,” he added.

(It is still passable, but it may be closed if it rains continuously.)

Meanwhile, in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), at least 2,600 families were affected by Paeng, according to a report of Jasmin Gabriel-Galban of GMA Regional TV One North-Central Luzon.

Citing data from CAR Office of Civil Defense (OCD), there were 66 road closures in the region due to the rain-induced landslides.

“‘Yung ating landslide risk po, mga rockfall, mga fallen trees natin na mga incidents ay imminent pa rin,” said OCD-CAR operations section chief Frankie Cortez.

(Our landslide risk due to rockfalls and fallen trees incidents is still imminent.)

OCD-CAR warned the local governments against the landslides, stressing that the rainfall amount in the region has already surpassed the threshold level.

In Baguio City, cemeteries are closed on Tuesday, except for sponsored church masses.

In a separate report of GMA Regional TV One Mindanao’s Abbey Caballero, 20 out of 61 fatalities were simultaneously buried in a mass grave in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.

Around 200 residents in the municipality also remained in evacuation centers due to Paeng.

Several houses in the province were also victimized by looters. Authorities are now looking into such incidents. — Giselle Ombay/RSJ, GMA News